So strong is his feeling on the issue, said Mr. Barron, a Brooklyn Democrat, that he will not seek another term in the City Council should his colleagues vote to give themselves and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg the opportunity to run for a third term.

“There are a lot of options that I feel I have available to me,” Mr. Barron said in an interview after a closed-door caucus of Democratic Council members late Monday night to discuss the mayor’s plan.
He was particularly critical of council members who support giving themselves an additional term in office.

“A lot of my colleagues’ perspective on this is self-serving,” he said. “Many of them don’t know where to go after this. Some can run for offices where they have a shot of winning. But many of them don’t have another place to go politically.”

Also, he said: “Many of them are extremely influenced by the mayor. A lot of them got money from the mayor for voting the way the mayor wants them to vote. So, you can’t really expect these people to go against the mayor.”

Mr. Barron, who had announced his candidacy for Brooklyn borough president, said he was not completely certain he would run if the Council passed Mr. Bloomberg’s proposal and the incumbent, Marty Markowitz, was able to run for re-election.

“Of course, I could take another shot at running for Congress in 2010,” he said, alluding to his unsuccessful challenge in 2006 to Representative Edolphus Towns. “But there are also things I might do outside of electoral politics.”

Mr. Barron, who represents East New York and Brownsville, said he was considering writing books on government and community leadership. “I could go back to my community political organization, Operation Power,” he said, “and work to develop young people to go into leadership positions in the community. I feel I have a lot of leadership training still to do. But I’m looking to move on.”

Before joining the City Council in 2001, Mr. Barron, a former Black Panther, was a lecturer and community advocate who was a close ally of the Rev. Al Sharpton. He said that he planned to be a strong supporter and adviser to his wife, Inez Barron, who won the Democratic primary for the Assembly seat representing East New York and is expected to win handily in November.

He did, however, say that one thing might persuade him to run for re-election to the City Council if term limits are extended.

“I’m opposed to running for another term,” Mr. Barron said, “unless there is a real, strong outcry from the neighborhoods I represent for me to run. That would be the only way I would consider it.”

In this article, Mr. Barron stated: “Many of them [present members of the NYC City Council] are extremely influenced by the mayor. A lot of them got money from the mayor for voting the way the mayor wants them to vote. So, you can’t really expect these people to go against the mayor.”

The confirmation that a “votes for cash” system has been operating in the City Council is an explosive revelation, and until now, has been one that has only been whispered about in the corridors of New York City government. I think it’s time to bring in the feds.

Politically, i am on another planet from Mr. Barron, but he does represent a constituency who has a firm right to be heard, and their voice made at the tables of power.

It is interesting to see that it took someone from the democratic leftwing to represent themselves as honorable and actually concerned with the opinions of voters. Never thought i would actually agree with Mr. Barron, or want to place a call to his office to say he made the right decision…

Are you people out of your damm minds?? This guy is a total wacko. He’s an incindiary racist who plays for the cameras and dosen’t get diddly for his desperatly needy district. Charles cares far more about advancing his career and seeing his name in print than he does about his district’s needs. This is the lunatic who brought Robert Mugabe to City Hall and honored him as a hero, who routinly slanders his colleagues as racist and corrupt for no reason, who fough desperatly against any punishiment of his insane chief of staff after she publicly threatened to assasinate a fellow council member.

Honorable??? Principled??? SANE????? Charles is many things, but none of those. Thank God he’s on his way out. Good riddance.

My reason for sitting on the many community groups I am active on has to do with the needs of my district. and as long as their needs are not being met.,
I will continue to campaign for the city council 42dist in collaboration with those who are concerned about the people the district and our future.

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